Souttar relishing upcoming England and New Zealand meetings as Socceroos build towards competitive action
Subway Socceroos defender Harry Souttar is looking forward to the challenges of England and New Zealand on the horizon.
Coach Graham Arnold has taken Australia through a series of tough tests following the side’s historic World Cup performance last year.
Australia took on Ecuador back-to-back in late March, winning 3-1 in Sydney before going down 2-1 in Melbourne.
They then faced world champions Argentina, where they lost 2-0, conceding in the first couple of minutes to Lionel Messi and then again 68 minutes in through German Pezzella.
The Socceroos' latest encounter was a 2-2 draw with Mexico in Dallas, Souttar himself opening the scoring before the Aussies surrendered a 2-0 lead to draw the match.
It’s been a tough run, but an important one, according to Souttar, which has seen plenty of young talent given opportunities.
“You’ve got your core principles and your beliefs and how we are on the pitch and off the pitch with the team culture. It’s massive,” he said.
“The new lads coming in have been excellent. They’ve fitted in really well.
“There were a couple of debuts last night, and I thought we all did brilliantly.”
Tweet: https://twitter.com/Socceroos/status/1700697897162203462
Australia’s next matches take them to the United Kingdom in October, facing powerhouses England at Wembley, followed by New Zealand a few days later at Brentford's Gtech Community Stadium.
It will be another big test for the Socceroos, facing a Three Lions outfit stacked with talent across the pitch, but Souttar said the team can take on these challenges.
“It’ll be a great occasion,” the 24-year-old centre-back said.
"Obviously, the travel won't be as much as normal. So two games there in London with the New Zealand game as well.
“Another really big stage for all the lads to play at.
“If you look back now, in the last few camps we’ve had since the World Cup, all the games have been a really high standard, really tough opposition.
“I think we’ve carried ourselves really well against them.
“The one thing looking back at the Argentina game in Beijing, it probably took us kind of 15-20 minutes to get going.
"And then when we did get going, I thought we played really well.
"It was one of them, where we've proven that we can play at this level and against these opposition.
"So we've got to do that from the first whistle and I thought we did that (against Mexico)."
Upcoming Matches
England v Subway Socceroos - International Friendly
Friday, 13 October
Wembley Stadium, London UK
Kick-off: 7.45pm local / 5.45am AEDT (Saturday, 14 October)
Subway Socceroos v New Zealand All Whites - International Friendly
Tuesday, 17 October
Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford, London UK
Kick-off: 7.45pm local / 5.45am AEDT (Wednesday, 18 October)
Tickets: Purchase Here
Subway Socceroos v Bangladesh or Maldives - FIFA World Cup 2026™ Second Round Asian Qualifiers
Thursday, 16 November 2023
AAMI Park, Melbourne
Kick-off: 8.00pm AEDT
Tickets: Purchase Here
